USA - Iran: Destruction on a High Level. And now?

The B-2s from Guam, the 14 super "bunker buster" bombs, the barrage of cruise missiles on Isfahan and more: This is how the U.S. hit the Iranian nuclear sites. In the statement of the President of the United States: "We have wiped it off the face of the Earth."

Operation „Midnight Hammer“ began with the take-off of a pair of B-2s from the Witheman base in Missouri (USA), towards the Guam base in the Pacific. A transfer explained first with defensive motivations. But it was only a diversion, a deception. Because the attack formation of 7 aircraft arrived at the targets following the classic Atlantic route, accompanied by refuelers. Eighteen hours of flight, refueling several times during the trip, without stopping.

„The Spirits“, as they are known by code, dropped 14 GBU 57, 14-ton super bombs: Twelve on Fordow, the most precious site, and two on Natanz, another nuclear hub. And a barrage of 30 cruise missiles launched by the Georgia submarine then hit Isfahan, the third hub of the so-called „atomic network“ of Iran.

The B-2 incursion was accompanied by the parallel activity of other aircraft, a set of 125 planes such as the EA-18 Growler – for electronic warfare and the fighters mobilized in the last phase (F 35, F 22). The Americans then exploited the corridors opened by the Israeli offensive which led to a significant reduction in the anti-aircraft shield already weakened by the previous rounds of war. Over seventy missiles and devices used for the strike.

According to an unofficial local version and the Italian newspaper „Corriere della Sera“, this was the sequence of the raid:

1:14 am on June 22th: Fighters reported overflights of Shiraz, a few minutes earlier the presence of possible drones in various Iranian regions.

1:22 am: New aircraft reports in the central sector.

2:04 am: Strong explosions heard in the Fordow area after jets passed by.

2:13 am: More explosions in Kashan, again in the Fordow area.

2:29 am: NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) records the first trace of "fire". However, it could be an anti-aircraft position that was hit.

2:35 am: Witnesses speak of a fire and detonations in the vicinity of the Mathab Welfare Complex.

2:38 am: Another raid on the site in the mountain. Column of smoke noted.

2:59 am: FIRMS picks up a second trace of fire at Fordow.

2:41 am: Attack on the Isfahan plant.

2:46 am: Witnesses report powerful explosions at the Natanz site.

2:55 am: Jamming activity to confuse GPS throughout the country.

The action confirmed the scenarios drawn up in recent days with continuous references to the need for the special weapon to hit the mountain that contains the Fordow centrifuges.

The american „defence device“ was developed in the first half of the 2000s with a view to use against hostile countries, from North Korea to the Islamic Republic. And it was then modified to increase its destructive power with innovations that were never fully revealed for security reasons.

The GBU must penetrate the protective "shell" and then detonate in order to amplify the effects inside the target. It seems that the latest updates have expanded the capabilities even if there is no precise data on the depth and position of what is to be swept away. An article of the „New York Times“ revealed that numerous exercises conducted by the Pentagon have confirmed that several B-2s are needed for an effective strike: Each of which can carry two bombs in its hold – a first «launch», followed in rapid succession by others. Like a hammer that «insists» on a nail.